Life off the grid in the SW Texas desert. An experiment in sustainable living. NUMBERS AT THE END OF EACH BLOG POST: temp at 8PM,high temp,low temp,rainfall,wind conditions(CalmBreezyWindyGusty). YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/c/TheFieldLab
Daily live streams at https://www.youtube.com/thefieldlab/live

Saturday, September 29, 2012

Swamped in...

Got another .38" overnight for a grand total of almost an inch and a half. Added about 2,500 gallons to my tanks. My road is a mess and over half gone in this spot. Gonna have to wait for at least another day for the puddles to dry then fill in enough to fit through the washout. Funny how the worst spots on my road are due to the Poatri road crew's maintenance techniques. Going below grade simply does not work.

Had a little training session with the steer today. Since Ben has already been traumatized by a rope halter - this ill fitting / off color one didn't bother him a bit. (good thing he doesn't have a mirror) Having him feel comfortable with head gear is half the battle. Ordered this one which I'm sure he will love. http://www.enasco.com/product/C02107N

Thanks to the road conditions there was nowhere to go but down today so I dug another hole and set the SE corner fence post.
68,77,68, .38,C,0

Might want to reroute the road a bit to the left. Leave the vegetation which appears to do a pretty good job of controlling erosion and clear a couple of tracks for vehicle wheels. If used enough the vegetation in the "hump" between the wheel tracks will be knocked down enough to not be a problem. This approach will mitigate the erosion problem without having to use culvert pipes/bar ditches, etc. Just a thought.

Riprap is a possibility if it exists in your region. I'd further erode that area with a grader, excavator, and fill it in with five or ten yards of the material. County commissioners paid for mine way back when.

Al...problem is, this section of road originally was the gully to the right in the photo and was graded so low that ultimately it became a canyon and has already been rerouted through several 5 acre tracts without the permission of the owners. Now the canyon is growing wider.

Serious road issues there. Looks like you might could use a small tractor, with a front end loader and scraper box. Good luck with it. Glad you collected some water. Are your tanks full? Nice work on the post, also.